Annam (Vietnamese: An Nam) is a French protectorate encompassing the central region of Vietnam.

Vietnamese are subsequently referred to as "Annamites."

Nationalist writers adopt he word "Vietnam" in the late 1920s.

The general public embraces the word "Vietnam" during the revolution of August 1945.

Since that time, the word "Annam" has been regarded as demeaning.

The region is seized by the French by 1874 and becomes part of French Indochina in 1887.

Two other Vietnamese regions, Cochinchina (Nam Kỳ) in the South and Tonkin (Bắc Kỳ) in the North, are also units of French Indochina.

The region has a dual system of French and Vietnamese administration.

The Nguyễn Dynasty still nominally rules Annam, with a puppet emperor residing in Huế.

In 1949, the protectorate is merged in the newly-established State of Vietnam.

The region is divided between communist North Vietnam and anti-communist South Vietnam under the terms of the Geneva Accord of 1954.